The Darkness That Comes Before: Book 1 of the Prince of Nothing - Softcover

Bakker, R. Scott

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841494089 ISBN 13: 9781841494081

Publisher: Orbit, 2005

Synopsis

'Compelling... Keeps the pages turning. The final cinematic scene, of a vast landscape filled with enormous armies, nicely sets the stage for book three of this daringly unconventional series in the Tolkien mold.' - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

'A journey unlike any other you have experienced. Part Dante's "Inferno" and part Conrad's "Heart Of Darkness", this is fantasy literature like you've never read before.' - Blogcritics

A score of centuries has passed since the First Apocalypse and the thoughts of men have turned, inevitably, to more worldly concerns...

A veteran sorcerer and spy seeks news of an ancient enemy. A military genius plots to conquer the known world for his Emperor but dreams of the throne for himself. The spiritual leader of the Thousand Temples seeks a Holy War to cleanse the land of the infidel. An exiled barbarian chieftain seeks vengeance against the man who disgraced him. And into this world steps a man like no other, seeking to bind all - man and woman, emperor and slave - to his own mysterious ends.

But the fate of men - even great men - means little when the world itself may soon be torn asunder. Behind the politics, beneath the religious fervour, a dark and ancient evil is reawakening. After two thousand years, the No-God is returning. The Second Apocalypse is nigh. And one cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten...

A startlingly original and assured epic fantasy debut. A tale of conspiracy, holy war, empire-building and intrigue set in the most vividly imagined fantasy world since Tolkien's Middle Earth.

Books by R Scott Baker:

Prince of Nothing Trilogy
The Darkness That Comes Before
The Warrior-Prophet
The Thousandfold Thought

Aspect-Emperor
The Judging Eye
The White Luck Warrior
The Great Ordeal
The Unholy Consult

Novels
Neuropath
Disciple of the Dog
Light, Time, and Gravity

About this title

Review:

The Darkness that Comes Before is a strong, impressive, deeply imagined debut novel. However, this first book of an epic fantasy series is not accessible; it reads like a later volume of a complicated ongoing series. Author R. Scott Bakker has created a world that is very different from JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, yet in depth of development comes closer than most high-fantasy worlds. In addition to providing five appendices, Bakker attempts to make his complex world clear to readers by filling the prologue and opening chapters with the names of characters, gods, cities, tribes, nations, religions, factions, and sorcery schools. For many readers, this approach will have the opposite effect of clarity. It's like demonstrating snowflake structure with a blizzard. --Cynthia Ward, Amazon.com

Review:

[R. Scott Bakker is a] class act like George R. R. Martin, or his fellow Canadians Steven Erikson and Guy Gavriel Kay. He gets right away from the 'downtrodden youth becoming king' aspect of epic fantasy in his very impressive first novel - The Darkness That Comes Before (SFX MAGAZINE)

Compelling... Keeps the pages turning. The final cinematic scene, of a vast landscape filled with enormous armies, nicely sets the stage for book three of this daringly unconvetional series in the Tolkien mold. (PUBLISHERS WEEKLY)

Canadian author Bakker's impressive, challenging debut, the first of a trilogy, should please those weary of formulaic epic fantasy. Bakker's utterly foreign world, Eärwa, is as complex as that of Tolkien, to whom he is, arguably, a worthier successor than such established names as David Eddings and Stephen Donaldson. (PUBLISHERS WEEKLY)

"Intelligent" is a term trotted out so often by publishers that it has become almost worthless - which is hard for the likes of Bakker, whose [The Darkness That Comes Before] truly is intelligent, and original, and all those other overused words. (THE GUARDIAN)

Bakker has created a gourmet feast for hungry fantasy readers, exquisitely prepared, carefully seasoned, and served with pomp and ceremony... The Darkness That Comes Before is truly a satisfying experience. (George Walkley)

Exquisitely intelligent and beautifully written, R. Scott Bakker's first novel in The Prince of Nothing series inspires both confidence and anticipation--this is fantasy with muscle and brains, rife with intrigue and admirable depth of character, set in (Kevin J. Anderson, bestselling author of HORIZON STORMS)

"Intelligent" is a term trotted out so often by publishers that it has become almost worthless - which is hard for the likes of Bakker, whose [The Darkness That Comes Before] truly is intelligent, and original, and all those other overused words. (The Guardian)

The Darkness That Comes Before is a strikingly original work, the start of a series to watch. SF Site ('The publisher’s hype compares [The Darkness That Comes Before] to The Lord of the Rings or Frank Herbert’s Dune, and gratifyingly the hype is not misplaced... The characters are among the most memorable and well-portrayed I can think of in recent fantasy f)

George Walkley, Ottakar's (Outland) ('Bakker has created a gourmet feast for hungry fantasy readers, exquisitely prepared, carefully seasoned, and served with pomp and ceremony... The Darkness That Comes Before is truly a satisfying experience.’)

Kevin J. Anderson, Bestselling author of Horizon Storms ('Exquisitely intelligent and beautifully written, R. Scott Bakker's first novel in The Prince of Nothing series inspires both confidence and anticipation--this is fantasy with muscle and brains, rife with intrigue and admirable depth of character, set in)

About this edition

• Publisher: Orbit
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1841494089
• ISBN 13: 9781841494081
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 656